you and I are guilty of and our
need for redemption, our need for forgiveness is the same as
David's. Now I'm going to quote a little
article that's in your bulletin that I wrote this week that where
I said in a large part In a large part, the severity of a crime
is determined by the innocence of the victim. In other words, a caretaker of children who abused
a child would be a much more severe crime than a prison guard
abusing a prisoner. The severity of a crime is judged
in large part by the innocence of the victim. That's why sin is the most heinous
crime of all. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
innocent one. And all sin, all sin, whether
it be the secret sins of our hearts or whether it be the sins
of, the outward sins of rebellion and disobedience, They are all
against God. Isn't that what David said? Against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight
that thou might be justified when thou speakest. So our sin
is against God. And you and I are just as guilty
and just as much need of the forgiveness of God and the grace
of God as was King David in the sins that he committed. That's
why I've titled this message, I'm Just Like David. I'm just like David. I do exactly
the same things. Now David speaks of his sin in
Psalm 51 and he speaks of it as transgression. He speaks of it as iniquity and
he speaks of it as sin. And the Bible identifies our
sin in those three categories, iniquity, transgression, and
sin. Go back with me before we look
at, hold your finger there in 2 Samuel chapter 11 and go back
with me to Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 34. Oh my brethren, here's our hope. Here's our hope. It is a faithful
saying and it is worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Now the Lord Jesus Christ saves
every sinner and he only saves sinners. So unless we can identify
ourselves with King David, Unless we see that, Lord, I've sinned
against God. I am guilty of the highest, most
heinous crime that a man can commit. Not against man, but
against the most innocent one. And I'm in need of a Savior.
I'm in need of a blood sacrifice. I'm in need of redemption. Lord,
I'm in need of you to do something for me that I cannot do for myself. Now, when Moses went up on Mount
Sinai in Exodus chapter 33, he says in verse 18, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. Show me thy glory. And Moses
had first seen the glory of God at the burning bush. When God
said, take your shoes from off your feet for the ground on which
you stand is holy ground, and Moses was brought before the
Lord Jesus Christ pictured in that burning bush where God was
speaking, the bush was on fire but the bush wasn't being consumed.
And what a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. The
fire of God's wrath fell on him but the fire didn't consume him,
he consumed the fire. And he speaks through the work
that he accomplished on Calvary's cross to his people. Moses saw
the glory of God there Moses saw the glory of God in the plagues
that God sent miraculously against the gods of Egypt. Moses saw
the glory of God when the Paschal Lamb was slain and the blood
was applied to the door and the death angel passed by the houses
of the Egyptians. Moses saw the glory of God. He
saw the glory of God in the dividing of the Red Sea and the destruction
of the Egyptians. He saw the glory of God in the
sending of the manna. He saw the glory of God in the
water that came forth out of the rock. All that happened before
Moses goes up on Mount Sinai and says to God, Lord, show me
thy glory. I haven't seen your glory yet.
I haven't seen your glory yet. And God said, verse 19, I will
make all my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim the
name of the Lord before thee. And I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. And I will show mercy to whom
I will show mercy. That's how I'm gonna show you
my glory. I'm gonna show you my glory in my sovereign act
of salvation. I'll have mercy upon whom I will
have mercy. and whom I will, I'll harden."
That's how I'm going to show you my glory. I'm going to show
you my glory by making you completely dependent upon me for all the
hope of your salvation. You're not going to have anything
to bring to the table. I'm going to do it all or I won't
do it at all. That's how I'm going to show
you my glory. Chapter 34. Well, the Lord goes on in Chapter
33 by telling Moses, I'm going to put you in a rock. I'm going
to cause my backside to pass by you. Now, what a picture. Here's how I'm going to show
you my glory, Moses. I'm going to put you in that rock of ages,
that rock that cannot fail. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's that
rock. I'm going to put you in the rock.
And I'm going to cause my backside to pass by you. Everybody, we
all want to know what's going to happen in the future, don't
we? We just, you know, we're all curious about what's going
to happen. We don't know what's going to happen. The hope of
our salvation is not determined by what's going to happen in
the future, what God's going to do or not going to do. It's
going to be determined by what he's already done. And God said
to Moses, I'm going to cause my goodness to pass before thee. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
say? Why callest thou me good? There's none good but God. I'm
going to cause my goodness to pass before you. Goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the goodness of God. He's the one that passes before
us. And all we see of him is where he's been. That's where
our hope is. We look back 2,000 years ago
to what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary's cross
when He put away the sins of His people by the shedding of
His own blood, that precious blood of Christ, the Lamb that's
without spot, without wrinkle. He's the one that put away our
sins. And that's what God's saying to Moses. Here's how I'm going
to show you my glory. And then look at verse 6 of chapter 34.
And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord,
the Lord God, I am Lord. You're not going to
make me Lord. I am Lord. That's who I am. That's
my glory. My glory is in my name. Merciful
and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and
truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression,
and sin, and will by no means clear the guilty. David in his
prayer in Psalm 51 asked the Lord to forgive him of his iniquity,
his transgression, and his sin. What's the difference between
those three things? Well, iniquity translated comes
from the word that means crooked or perverse. And when the word iniquity is
used, it's used to identify the things that men present to God
for the hope of their salvation. You don't present your sin to
God for the hope of your salvation if you're an unbeliever. Men
by nature present their goodness to God for the hope of their
salvation. They glory in their own goodness. And God says it's
perverse, it's bent, it's twisted, it doesn't measure up, it's iniquitous. Transgression means, comes from
the word translated rebellion, rebellion. It's a blatant rebellion
against the law of God. And that's what David was guilty
of, his transgression. But it didn't stop with his transgression.
It also had to do with his iniquity. And then sin. What is the difference
between iniquity, transgression, and sin? Well, iniquity is the
good stuff we do, transgression is the bad stuff we do, and sin
is what we are. I shared that with somebody recently
and they said, oh, you mean like the good, the bad, the ugly?
I said, yep. Yep. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And that's what we are. and that's
what David was. He had iniquity. Don't you know
for those nine months between the time that he slept with Bathsheba
and the time that Nathan came to him and said, Thou art the
man, that David made multiple efforts to atone for his sins. When he said in Psalm 51, if sacrifices what the sacrifices
of God are broken spirit broken contract hard I can't bring enough
sacrifices I know that now I've been trying I've been trying
to atone for my sins have been trying to make things right I've
been I've been living with this guilt and this shame thinking
well if I can just be sorry enough but I can bear enough that's
an equity that's an equity God says it's perverse it doesn't
measure up It's not what I require. Transgression is what he did
when he had Uriah killed and when he committed adultery with
Bathsheba. And sin is what he was. Just a sinner. A sinner. That's what he meant when he
said, I was conceived in iniquity. I've been a sinner all my life.
That's my problem. Can you identify with David? Can you see that the Lord is
pleased to keep mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression,
and sin, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and will by no means
clear the guilty. The Lord cannot overlook sin.
He must punish all sin, and all sin will be punished. The punishment
that the Lord executed on His own Son on Calvary's cross is
sufficient to put away sin once and for all. The punishment that
men will suffer in a devil's hell will never, never be sufficient. That's why hell is forever. It'll
never put away sin. I'm just like David, just like David, an adulterer,
a murderer, a thief, a sinner, always having thoughts of thinking
that I can atone for my own sins by doing something good, rebelling against the Word of
God, just like David. You have your
Bibles open to 2 Samuel chapter 11. I remind you David also was
a man after God's own heart. David was a believer. David loved
the gospel. He loved Christ. We look at the
sin of David and we A child of God in their right
mind will never ever entertain the thought that I would never
do that. Not in their right mind. They get out of their right mind
and they might entertain those thoughts, but the child of God
knows, Lord, you don't keep me, I'm capable of anything. Capable
of anything. No excuse for David's sin. And there was horrible consequences
for David's sin in terms of what happened in his life, in his
children's life, in Israel's life. But David had the comforting
words that Nathan spoke to him when he said, the Lord hath forgiven
thee. The Lord hath forgiven thee.
You may suffer the consequences of your sin in this life with
men, but you'll never suffer them with God. There's a great
little article in your bulletin this morning. Was it Jack Shanks? No. Who was it that wrote that
article? Scott Richardson. Scott Richardson. Is my sin seen
before God? Read those articles. I think
you'll be very encouraged. Alright, you have your Bibles
open to 2 Samuel chapter 11. And it came to pass after the
year was expired at the time when kings go forth to battle
that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel.
And they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Ravah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem." You and I, just like David, become
weak to the temptations of sin when we tarry in a place where
we ought not to be. David was supposed to be leading
the battle. David was taking his ease in
Zion. He was in a place where he ought
not to have been. Can you identify? Have you tarried
too long in a place thinking, I've got control of this, and
before you know it, it had control of you. Isn't that the way it
works? Lot lingered in Sodom. Lot tarried in Sodom and had
the Lord not taken him by his hand and pulled him by force
out of Sodom, Lot would have suffered the destruction of Sodom.
And when we tarry, how dependent we are for the Lord to do for
us what he did for Lot, take us out. Peter tarried by the
warmth of the fire that fateful night until he became so accustomed
to his company that he was afraid. He was afraid to stand up against
a woman that accused him of being one of the lords. We tarry too
long in one place. We become victims to, now we're
always guilty of iniquity. And we're always sinners. What
is our hope? Lord, I don't want to be a transgressor. Lord, teach me. Show me. Keep me from tarrying too long
in a place. Noah tarried too long at the
wine, didn't he? And all that happened as a result
of that with Ham and the curse of Ham. Lot tarried too long
at wine, didn't he? What happened with him, with
his daughters and the horrible consequences? Can you identify? Can you say, you know, I'm like
David. I'm like David. If the Lord doesn't do for me
what he did for Lot, I'll tarry too long in a place where I ought
not to be. And in tarrying in that place,
I'll become victim to sin. There's nothing I won't do. That's
what the Lord meant in Matthew chapter 5 when he said, if your
eye offend you, take it out. If your hand offend you, cut
it off. Was he talking about maiming yourself physically?
No. No, he was saying, you know, don't be careful. You're vulnerable. You're weak. You think you can
tarry in a place where you ought not to be and you're going to
end up just like David. Handle snakes, you're going to
get bit. That's the lesson, isn't it? And we've all been bit. We've
all been bit so that we know, oh Lord, that's my problem. I
have too high a view of myself. I think that I can tarry in a
place where I ought not to be and I can withstand the temptations
and I can't. I can't. Lead me." What did the
Lord say when He told us how to pray? He said, pray like this,
Lord, lead me not into temptation, because I know if I'm tempted
I'm going to sin. Turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter
6. I'll show you an encouraging passage
here, 1 Timothy. My Bible's all stuck together.
1 Timothy chapter 6. Look at verse 11. But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow
after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Fight the good fight of faith. Now here's my point on these
two verses of Scripture. You fight by running. You fight by running. I'll be a coward if I run. I've
got to stand up to my... David tarried in a place where
he ought not to have been. Go back with me to our text.
And you and I are just like David. I want you to identify with David.
I want you to say, Lord, that's me. That's me. I've had way too
high a view of myself. I've thought I can stand up to
this, and before I know it, I'm just like David. I'm just like
Peter and just like every other sinner who thought that he could. Verse 3, 2 Samuel chapter 11. And David sent and inquired after
the woman, and one said, is not this Bathsheba the daughter of
Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? What would these men
say? David, this woman's married. This is her husband. This is
her father. David, God forbids this. You and I fall into sin. when we disregard the clear teaching
of God's Word, don't we? Transgression, that's rebellion
against the Word of God. Like I said, we're always guilty
of iniquity, we're always sinners, always sinners, but the child
of God thinks, Lord, I don't want to transgress your law,
but I do, I do. Now stay with me for the second
hour because here's where we're going to find the hope for sinners
who can identify with David. All right? We choose our own
way over God's way. We are without excuse. David
knew what he was about to do was in violation of God's word. He had his eyes wide open. And so do you, don't you? So
do I. We rebel against God, we don't do it accidentally. We don't fall into sin like that. We know what... David don't do this. This is
Uriah's wife. You know what the Word of God
says about this. He did it anyway. Believing that
the Word of God was true, believing that the Word of God was the
final authority for life in every way, He believed that just like
every child of God believes that. But he walked in defiant disobedience
to the clear teaching of the word of God. Can you identify
with David? David sent messengers and took
her and she came in unto him and he lay with her. And when
she was purified from her uncleanness, she returned unto her house,
and the woman conceived and sent, and told David, and said, I am
a child." Now, from verse 6 to verse 27
in 2 Samuel, we've got the cover-up. The cover-up. The cover-up is
always worse than the crime, isn't it? You and I do the same
thing. Why do we implicate other people
in our sin? We try to cover up our sin. What
are we showing about ourselves when we do that? I'll show you
what we're showing. We're showing that we fear men
more than God. We do. We don't want other people
to find out. So let's do whatever we can do
to cover it up. And David's cover-up was horrible.
I mean, you know what happened. He brought Uriah home from the
battlefield and tried to get Uriah two nights in a row. Second
night, he got him drunk, thinking, well, that'll do it. And Uriah
was a noble man. Uriah refused to go home to be
with his wife. He said, how can I? The ark is
in the field. The men are in the field. Joab's
in the field. I cannot go and enjoy the pleasure
of my home while my countrymen are out there battling And he
refused to go. And so David gave Uriah a letter. It was his own death sentence.
And Uriah carried his own death sentence, not knowing what was
in that letter. Back to Joab. And David said,
put Uriah at the forefront of the hottest battle on the field
and withdraw from him. And Joab did it. And Uriah was
killed. What a horrible, horrible thing. But all his attempts to cover
up his sin, the Lord had David. And all our attempts and all
the things that we do and tearing too long where we ought not to
be and disregarding the Word of God, oh, the mercy of God
to arrest us. to arrest us, to stop us in our
tracks, to send his prophet. And I'm hopeful this morning
that the Lord will do that for us. Here's what Amos said, surely
the Lord God will do nothing, but he reveals his secret unto
his servants, the prophets. I can't tell you how many times
I've had people say to me, man, you must've known exactly what
I was thinking. I don't, I don't have a clue.
I don't have a clue what you're thinking. I don't have a clue
what you're going through. I don't know what's going on. That's
the Spirit of God. God always sends His prophets
to reveal His secrets to His people. To His people. And that's what He does in chapter
12, verse 1. And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, And he came
unto him and said unto him, there were two men in one city, the
one rich and the other poor. You know the story. David's real
sin comes out after he hears this story. Think he was just
guilty of adultery and murder? Now the hypocrisy. After he hears
this story, he reveals, he said, A rich man had a whole flock
of sheep and a stranger came to visit him and he went next
door to his neighbor's house who had one little ewe lamb who
was like to him a daughter. This little lamb, he slept in
the bed with him. He ate from the master's table.
He was their only possession. He loved that little lamb and
the rich man went next door and took his neighbor's lamb and
slew it and gave it to his guest. And David was wroth with anger.
And David said, that man should die for that. That man should
die for that and he needs to return to the other man fourfold
for what he's done. And Nathan, I'm sure with a broken
heart, said to David, thou art the man. David, look what God's done for
you. Look what he says. Verse 7, And Nathan said unto
David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
I anointed thee king over Israel. I delivered thee out of the hand
of Saul. I gave thee thy master's house and thy master's wives
into thy bosom, and I gave thee the house of Israel and Judah.
And if that had been too little, I would have moreover given you
such and such things. I would have given you more. Wherefore hast thou despised
the commandments of the Lord to do evil in his sight? Thou
hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and has taken
his wife to be thy wife, and has slain him with the sword
of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall
never depart from thy house." The consequences of his sin were
terrible in his life in this world. And David said in verse 13, I
have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the
Lord also has put away thy sin. Put it away, but thou shall not
die. Are you like David? You need God to say to you, I
put away your sin. You're not going to die. Psalm
51, we'll pick up in a few minutes. Alright, let's take a break. Thank you.